The Feeling
by Jaded Equinox
Summary: John and Linda have known each other since they were just six years old, and they've been through it all. However, with the Covenant invading earth and the threat they are starting to pose; can John hide his feelings or will they prevail.
1. High Hopes

_**[Earth 2553, New Mombasa Ruins]**_

The light slowly broke through the field of black. A pounding began to follow as Linda opened her eyes fully, taking in the scene in front of her. She was leaning against a tattered concrete wall for support; her vision was just as fuzzy as her memory. She need to stand up, she needed to get her bearings; she could hear the sounds of gunfire fading into her ears. She braced her hand on the wall, and began to lift herself up slowly; but to no avail as she was brought back to the ground. She reached over, and noticed there she had restricted movement on her right side; where all the pain was coming from.

"Keep firing!' shouted a familiar voice.

Linda blinked her eyes, wiping out the last of the blur. She looked around rapidly at the people lying around her, she could see Marines and ODST's alike laying in small pools of their own blood. She saw a small corpsman slinking from body to body administering aid if they were conscious and breathing. She was focused on the scene of the small woman wrapping up a man with a plasma burned face, when suddenly her concentration was broken. A titanium knee slammed into the ground right in front of her, a hand slowly followed as it braced the weight of the body from falling into the dirt.

Linda slowly rolled her eyes over the dirty and defeated figure. She remembered immediately that it was one of her fellow Spartans; _John._ She looked down at her Heads up Display on the inside of her Helmet, for his vitals. She saw that his vitals were getting dangerously low, and were blinking on borderline cardiac arrest. Linda still could not reach out to him, but she still completed a visual inspection of him. His visor was cracked, with pieces of it missing. So much so that she could see his right eye through the hole in his visor. John was still on his knee, but his hand was up to holding a wound on his side; blood was oozing through his clamped fingers. The look that Linda saw in his eye was not one she had never seen before, nor had she expected to see from John; it was look of pleading and panic.

Linda being able to finally move stretched out her hand, "John, John come to me. Come here," she called out to him.

John's visor was cracked, he knew it. Knew it, he could damn well see it. The covenant was slowly surrounding them; he was the only one returning fire at them. He glanced over one last time at Linda to see her stretched out hand. He could hear her calling something to him, but he shrugged it off and looked around for a weapon, anything would work. He found what he was looking for; next the mangled body of an ODST was an MA5B assault rifle, which had obviously seen better days. He racked the slide, and checked his side, the pain was far more intense than he was used to; he'd been hit, he knew that much. It had hurt him so much that it caused him to drop down to the ground, and caused his vision to blur; that's how he had gotten to where he is now, his memories defusing only a little.

He looked over at Linda, studying her visor. He wished he could see her face again, that beautiful fiery red hair, that seemed to effortlessly cascade over her shoulders, or her piercing green eyes, he slender; yet muscularly toned body. He had sudden flashbacks to when he was younger and would often find himself staring at her from a distance. The feelings that had festered within him, that at first bothered him; soon turned into something far greater and exciting than he had ever imagined. He loved her, with all he had; but he could not tell her, and he never had the guts to do it anyways.

He began to stand, but again he heard her call out to him once again; except this time he could hear her. Her hand once again out stretched towards him.

"John, John come to me. Come here," she called out softly.

Linda was reaching for John, her Master Chief. She had for the longest time found that she had a strong attraction to him. He was an excellent leader, an amazing shot, and he was uncommonly lucky; but she found that there was this yearning inside of her to be with him. She knew that she should have said it before that she loved him.

The gap was closed between John, and Linda. John rested his head on her shoulder, waiting for his death and hers. His life began to flash rapidly before his eyes, he saw receiving day; when all the Spartan boys and girls were lined up for primary inspection. He remembered seeing her fiery red hair, and those green eyes looking right at him. His life was hard, no doubt about that; however Linda was there at every turn. She had been there for graduation, when Reach fell. She had always been there, waiting at his side.

"I love you Linda, with all of my heart," he spoke silently to himself.

The soft humming of ghosts began to grow louder as they slowly encircled them. This is it, thought John. He mustered all of his strength and stood hurling himself over the low wall that Linda and him had been using to support themselves. As he was vaulting he could see Linda move her head to follow his movements.

"John, no!" yelled out Linda in a pained voice, followed by a cough.

He landed, and stood up; taking in the size of the force in front of him. He clicked the safety off on his rifle and began to lay down fire upon the encroaching enemy force. He was by a brute spike to the knee, and another to his shoulder. He dropped to his knees once again and peppered the group of grunts charging him, they dropping like flies. His vision became blurry as another wave of spikes nearly hit him, he didn't feel anything; the pain was gone. He reloaded his rifle just in time, as he dispatched two brutes that charged towards him.

A bright light blinded him, but only for a moment. He looked to the sky, as a squadron of Falcons swooped in armed with rocket pods. They targeted the amassed force of covenant and opened fire; spilling destruction to the small patch of land that the enemy resided on.

John let out a sigh, followed by a cough which left the taste of copper in his mouth. He sat back on his haunches, knees on the dirt, and hands bracing themselves on his knees. He hung his head low, breathing deeply.

"John, John!" he heard someone screaming.

He felt someone run over, and wrap their arms around him. He felt his helmet being removed, but was focused too much on his pain to notice it.

Linda had seen John, bravely and stupidly jump over the wall to confront the covenant assault. She had heard the sickening splatter of enemy shots impacting him as they tore through the soft under layer his armor. She had seen the Falcons sweep in out of nowhere and lay waste to the snarling beasts in front of John. She got up and hobbled over to his side, wrapping her arms around him the best she could, and breathed a sigh of relief. She depressurized his armor, and removed his helmet slowly; she was secretly excited to gaze upon his face once again, she missed seeing it.

When she had the helmet off she had to hold back a gasp. She had always known John for having scars, and bruises; but this was different. She looked at him, seeing a small amount of blood lazily drip from his mouth into the dirt. He had a busted nose, and dried blood all over his chin; he had two gashes on his left cheek, and a massive black right eye.

"I thought I was going to lose you," she whispered to herself, in an attempt to console herself.

"You won't," he replied flatly.

She didn't know that she had said it that loud, but unbeknownst to her; it was due to John's overly attuned ears. They both stood up; however it was shaky for both of them. Linda reached up and removed her helmet as well; she felt the warm breeze hit her in the face.

John was pleased that he could once again see her face, that beautiful porcelain sculpture; framed by fire and studded with two shining emeralds. John looked over to see a Pelican landing slowly nearby, waiting for them. He felt Linda rest her weight on his shoulder as they began to walk towards the rear bay of the Pelican.

"John, I…I…" stammered Linda.

He just smiled, and nodded resting his head against her head. John thought that she was simply saying that she was glad he was alright; but for some reason his mind had other ideas. The small boy inside of him kept saying that she meant to say that she loved him. He shook his head realizing just how foolish it was for him to hope that, they were partners, and friends; she didn't see him like that, did she?

"She doesn't love me," he spoke to himself silently.

"She's just a friend. That's all she wants to be," he said reassuring himself.

Linda had been leaning on him the entire time they walked to the Pelican, she was thinking to herself. She loved him, and she wanted him to know badly; but there was just no easy way to say that to him. She hoped he loved her just as much, but she just wished it wasn't all because of her high hopes.


	2. Dreams

_Dear Readers,_

_ I thank you for you positive response to my first Fan Fic, and I plan on continuing this story. I will try to update at least once a week, or more. It all hinges on my work schedule, and personal obligations. Thank you once again for reading, and hopefully enjoying this._

_ Reviews would be lovely._

_ -Jaded Equinox_

_**[5**__**th**__** Avenue, UNSC Operating, New Mombasa]**_

The room slowly faded into view, as a groggy Linda shot up in bed with a yelp. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end, and her bangs were plastered to face with a thick coat of cold sweat. She looked around the room in minor panic, as she realized that when she fell asleep she wasn't in her room. She leaned forward, resting her head in her hands, and breathed out an exasperated sigh. The memories began to come rushing back to her; the ambush and the firefight, and finally John nearly getting himself killed saving their unit. She remembered hearing the sickening splats of the enemy shots impacting John, and his small cries of pain.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the sound of her door being unlocked attracted her attention. The door to her room hissed open and the faint amber light of the hallway illuminated her dank, dark room. In the door way stood a hulk of a man, there was this aura cast about him, due to the amber colored glow behind him. It was John, it was her John.

John had been in a deep sleep, the deepest of his entire life. It wasn't often when he could sleep, and when he did the dreams were usually plagued by the constant invasion of Covenant. He was busy boarding a battle cruiser, and fighting his towards the bridge when he heard someone scream. He began to look around the softly light purple hallway for the source of the scream. It went away after a few seconds, then once again it came back; only this time he figured out who it was that was screaming aloud; Linda. He began to run down the hallway spraying, and cutting down the Brutes that were in his way. He arrived at a door at the end of the hallway, and keyed it open; with a hiss the dream ended. John shot straight up in his bed, and looked around for the clock; 3:31 A.M it read. He breathed out, and stood up; he was in only his fatigue bottoms but decided to go check on Linda instead of searching for a shirt.

He walked out of his room, and down the hallway towards Linda's room; he could feel his heartbeat thumping against his chest. The very thought of being near Linda, even in combat had that effect upon him. He keyed the door lock, and opened it to see Linda sitting up in bed looking at him; he could see her faint smile.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked tenderly as he crossed her to room.

Linda smiled and shot up from bed and threw her arms around John. She rested her head upon his bare chest, and could feel his warmth and care seeping out of his pores. She looked up into his eyes and smiled at him, as she smiled she let out a soft sigh and rested her head on his chest once again.

"I am now," she whispered softly to herself.

John's ears easily picked up what she had whispered. He felt a smile tug at his lips, and could feel his heart fill with pride and hope. He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close to him; vowing that he would hold her till she felt safe once more. He rested his chin on the top of her head, and breathed in the scent of her conditioner. It wasn't regulation; she had without a doubt taken some out of a store front when they were in New Mombasa's city center. The scent was of velvet and lilacs; it reminded him of Reach. It took him back to that small cleared valley, where he had spent almost all of his free time; when he wasn't face first in the mud.

Linda leaned back a little, and looked at John clear in the face. She had to sate her need to see his face, the face of the man she had loved for the last twenty years. She saw him glance down to her eyes, and she locked them together in a gaze that couldn't be broken; even by a fuel rod shot from a hunter. Linda was a little bit surprised that, even though his face was covered in scars and bruises it didn't hide his soft features. His loving eyes looking at her, made her heart thud loudly against her chest.

"John, I want to tell you something," she spoke unsure of herself.

"What is it Linda?" he asked as he brushed her hair away from her face.

John felt at home, almost as if this was where he belonged; in Linda's arms. He began to slowly rock back and forth as he softly hummed to her, still running his fingers through her hair. He could still feel her scent wafting through his nostrils, and filling his head.

"Linda, what did you want to tell me?" he asked once again.

He was awaiting a response, but it never came. He looked down to see that Linda was softly breathing, finally asleep. She had fallen fast asleep in his strong arms, and didn't even seem to notice. John smiled to himself, as he gently laid her down on her bed; making sure that she was comfortably settled in bed. He looked down at her, and sighed beginning to leave her; when she rolled over on her side away from him. John looked at her for a moment, and let out another sigh; was this an invitation for him to join her in bed?

He slowly set himself down on the bed next to her, he pulled himself close to her and wrapped an arm over her midsection; softly tugging her into position. He breathed out, letting his warm breath wrap around her neck, and roll down her arms. He leaned in and laid a small kiss on the back of her neck, he let it linger there for a moment before pulling his lips off. Suddenly he was hit by the realization of what he had done. Guilt hit him like a gravity hammer as he pulled his head back, and felt his face begin to burn with stupidity and embarrassment. He closed his eyes in an attempt to hide what he had just done, in case she woke up. He held his eyes shut for a few minutes, and breathed somewhat heavily; feeling the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He opened his eyes to see that Linda hadn't moved from her original spot, he sighed out of relief. He closed his, only this time allowing himself to be carried off into a deep sleep; knowing that Linda hadn't noticed what he had done.

Linda awoke with a start, letting her eyes get used to the darkness that filled her room. She was getting ready to get out of bed, when she noticed an arm draped over her. She froze, and felt a small pang of fear creeping through her. She slowly turned her head, and part of her body towards the person who was draped over her. She noticed the familiar scar that ran along the jawline of the man, she breathed out a soft sigh of relief.

"John, John wake up," she spoke, running her finger tips lightly over his biceps.

She could feel her heart flutter slightly as his reflexes caused his biceps to flex, and reveal the toned and sculpted stone under his skin. The warmth of his breath crept slowly over the crook of her neck, and onto her clavicle. She felt her skin begin to rise at the awkwardly sensual experience, but decided that she needed to wake John up before they both got into some real trouble; it was more for her own sake than his.

"John…Wake up," she said again, but still as softly.

John was on that Covenant ship again, running through the hallways being chased by a horde of Brute regulars. He stopped and dropped to his knee, spraying at their kneecaps with his MA5B rifle. Blood was spurting all over the hallway, and screams were shattering his ear drums. He walked over to a dying Brute and put a single shot through its skull. He laughed happily, knowing that he had stopped the enemy advance. He removed his helmet to inspect the dents that the Brutes had put in it, when out of the corner of his eye he saw Linda. She was walking towards him, slowly and lightly swaying her hips as she walked. John went to meet her half way, but was thrust from his dream and brought back to the world of the living.

John opened his eyes to see Linda's emerald beauties staring at him, directly in his eyes. He saw that his arm was still stretched out over her lithe body, and saw her blush a little. He felt his heart jump into his throat and his arms retract.

"I…I…I'm sorry," he stuttered out of fear.

Linda just smiled at him, and slowly slinked out of bed. She stood up and leaned her chest and arms back in a deep stretch causing her standard issue tank top to rise up her stomach. She had absent mindedly revealed to John her silky smooth, and flat stomach a small reveal to her toned, slender figure. She saw out of the corner of her eye that John did a once over, and looked back down at the bed.

"Why were you in my bed with me?" she asked concerned.

John just shrugged his shoulders a little, and coughed to clear his throat. She could see that he was uncomfortable, and felt somewhat sorry that she had put him on the spot like that; but she needed to know.

"Well after we arrived back at the base you seemed exhausted, but didn't want to go to sleep. So I helped you remove your armor, and put it away. Then I had to basically drag you to the mess hall so you could eat something; however you seemed awfully upset that I hadn't gone to medical yet. I went to get something for you to eat, and when I came back you were passed out. I…I took you with me to Medical, and while I was getting checked on, you got cleaned up and showered. I hefted you up and took you to your room, so that you could fall asleep on your bed. I left you here to sleep and went off to my own room to do the same. After sometime I was woken up by you screaming in your sleep and came rushing to you. I held you till you fell asleep and well, I joined you in bed so that you'd feel safer and wouldn't wake up screaming again," he spoke timidly.

"And well now we're here talking about it," he said ending the tale.

Linda looked at him thoughtfully for a few seconds and smiled at him. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, she wanted him to be hers forever, or until to Covenant ended them both. She sighed and walked around the bed to him, and as he swung his feet out over the edge of the bed she sat down on his lap.

"Thank you for coming in here to see if I'm okay. I know you were probably really worried about me, and I can see it in your eyes. Is there anything you want to tell me?" she asked, sure of herself that she knew what the answer was going to be.

John just smiled and leaned his head forward, letting his forehead rest against hers. He breathed out shakily as he felt the adrenaline rising in his blood. He smiled and ran his hand over her back, and began to trace circles along her shoulder blades.

"Yes, I do have something I want to tell you Linda," he said unsure of himself.

She leaned back a little to get a good look at his features; she was looking at his eyes, and nose. Then finally looked at his lips and felt her head begin to swim with desire. She leaned in a little bit more, and he did the same; only a few inches remaining.

John held his breath as he and Linda embarked on a collision course; he wanted it so bad.

_"Master Chief report to the Command Center, Master Chief report to the Command Center as soon as possible,"_ spoke the PX officer; causing Linda to pull her head back.

John coughed and let Linda get off of his lap; he stood and looked at her one last time, then quickly leaving the room. He rushed down the hallway towards the Armory and Command Center.

Linda breathed out, and pouted a little bit. She wanted it so badly, and the commander and PX officer had to ruin it. She threw herself back onto the bed and breathed out a sigh followed by a groan.

"I'm going to tell him tonight, I'm going to make him realize what I feel," she said to no one in particular.


	3. Security Breach

_Dear Readers_

_ Once again, I thank you for your continued support and encouragement. I realized that while I was re-reading my previous two chapters that there were some minor errors, as far as grammar is concerned. I tend to do that sometimes when I type fast and furiously. I'll be sure to be more careful on this one, as well as then next couple. _

_ Please continue to let me know what you think of my work, and keep up the support. The positive comments have brought a smile to my face._

_Peace and Happiness,_

_ -Jaded Equinox_

_**[5th Avenue, UNSC Operating Base, New Mombasa]**_

John rounded the corner into the armory and didn't see any of the engineers that he needed to put his armor on properly. He looked around the room for a few minutes until spotted a small pool of blood forming under a desk. John took a few steps back and reached behind him for the M6 that was lying peacefully upon an ammo crate. John clicked the safety off, and slowly side stepped around the desk; being sure not the make a sound. He slowly leaned his head out just enough to peek under the desk; but he pull his head back when he say the stomach churning glow of an energy sword light up in the corner.

John threw himself back onto the ground just in time to dodge the swing of the sword. He looked up to see a stealth elite de-cloak itself, and begin to thunderously stomp towards him. John hefted the pistol and squeezed the trigger once, twice, and then a third time; the shots came zooming out of the barrel at terminal velocity. The elite screamed in pain as the bullets pierced its armor and tore up the soft understructure of its body. It closed the gap and picked John up by his throat and tossed him through the open doorway, causing him to hit the adjacent wall hard. His vision doubled, and he felt his hip lock up; causing him to lose the ability to run away effectively.

The elite stormed out into the hallway, and looked left and right furiously searching for him. It finally spotted him and turned his body slowly, laughing aloud to itself. John went to aim the pistol, but found that he didn't have it in his hand; it was under the elite's foot.

"Oh, is this yours human?" it snarled, gesturing at the pistol.

It stepped hard on the pistol, crushing the muzzle beneath its heel. John stood up and charge at the elite, ducking under its swing and picking it up. He slammed the elite into the wall where he just seconds before had been thrown against. The elite dropped the sword's hilt, and screamed in pain again. It grabbed at John's throat and sliced his face up, and ripped his shirt. John could feel the pain searing through his head, and the pain of grappling with this beast was hurting his own muscles.

The elite pushed off the wall, slamming John through the now closed armory door. The metal bent, and warped until finally it gave way and split apart. John fell onto his back, and braced his foot against the elite's chest. He slowly lowered the elite and his leg to his chest; then with all of his might he kicked the elite out into the hallway. It fell back into the hallway and was getting ready to charge once more, but then an ear shattering explosion rocked the hallway and threw the elite down, and away from John.

He laid his head back to catch his breath, and check over himself. The doorway was shrouded in smoke, and dust; but a figure became visible through the dust.

"John, you in there?" called a voice.

"Yeah, get in here and help me get my armor on," he yelled back.

A small squad of ODST's came piling into the room and began to sweep left and right. A familiar ODST came walking up to John, and extended his hand.

"Master Chief, at the request of your woman we have come to save you," he said with a short laugh.

John felt a smile creep across his lips at hearing the ODST say "his woman," because not only was that funny to hear; but he knew it was Linda. He shook his head and stood up, wiping off the purple blood and grime; he felt his back tense up slightly.

"Where is she?" John asked in a low, raspy voice.

The squad leader and his men nodded at the hallway, but stopped John so that they could put his armor on him. The ODST unit, after much instruction had successfully gotten John suited up and powered on. He stretched his arms out and flexed his biceps and his back; causing a series of cracks to reverberate from his spinal joints.

He flicked his HUD on, and watched in awe as the new visor clearly spread the windows and counters out. He logged onto the vital counter and searched for Linda's, maybe she had her suit on; she did. He smiled at the fact they she could easily defend herself, now that her armor was on. With his armor up and running, it was time to get down to business. And ODST tossed a newer rifle to him, that John had never seen before.

"What is this? A prototype?" he asked unsure.

"Yeah, it is. The pencil dicks at ONI decided that they would finally invest money into a newer weapon system for us regular grunts. That right there is the new MA7C assault rifle; it comes fully equipped with scoped range finder, semi to automatic fire selector switch. It can also be modified to hold the two hundred round drum magazine. I figured you might as well have it, since we have more than enough at this base," said the squad commander with pride in his voice.

John hefted the rifle in his hands; it looked just like the original MA5B service rifle; except the ammo counter was now a small LED screen on the right side of the weapon, underneath the bolt catch. The rather large hump where the ammo counter usually was on the MA5B was now removed; and a rail system took up the vacant spot. Placed upon the rail was a scope similar to the battle rifle, which was favored among the grunts. He smiled as the ammo counter read _"64,"_ with the weapon loaded he took a step out of the armory and into the now blown out hallway.

"Is the Commander secure?" asked John with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Yes sir, the Commander is further underground with the rest of the ODST units. We've been sent here to procure you and the other Spartan. After which you two are tasked with reaching Heyman Boulevard and linking up with the forward observation point," spouted out the squad leader.

John nodded and headed down the hallway towards the secondary armory, he could hear screaming and gunshots coming from somewhere else in the building. He could feel the ground shake a little as the base took another hit, dirt and dust sprinkled lightly down from the ceiling.

_"Probably a wraith," _though John to himself.

He saw two elites come flying out of a room, and slam into the wall with a splat. They slowly sank to the floor in pools of their own blood. He could hear the pump of a shotgun chambering a shell, as well as the gurgles of the elites taking their last breaths.

"Linda, come in. Linda where are you?" shouted John over the com channel.

"Right next to you John," she said back.

Without thinking John took her into a rather bulky embrace, he was glad that she hadn't been caught off guard like he had. He could feel a small tear well up in his eye, something that had never happened before; ever.

"We're leaving, I received our orders and it'll be a tough one. So if you have anything else you're going to grab, then go get it now," commanded John, once again returning to his Master Chief façade.

Linda nodded her head, and picked up her rifle; with her shotgun secured to her back she stepped out of the room and into the hallway. John followed her with his eyes, and began to jog through the base towards the front door. A plasma shot smashed into the wall, and melted away the concrete. Linda dropped low and pumped a quick shot into the grunt that had managed to weasel its way into the compound.

John grinned at the death she had administered; he felt jealousy overcome him that she was getting all of the action; while he stood back like a disgruntled boyfriend. Two more grunts, backed by a jackal rounded the corner with their weapons ready. John side stepped kicking a grunt hard in the face, knocking its methane breather off its face. He unsheathed his blade and drove it into the top of the second grunts head, with a twist he yanked it out. John turned to face the jackal who was cowering behind its shield, squawking at him. Linda took out her knife and threw it towards the exposed the side of jackal. The blade struck the bird in the ribcage, and pierced its heart; the squawking stopped almost immediately.

"Let's get out of here before more of them show up, I don't want to be around when a Hunter pair decides to back up the grunts," said Linda over the com channel; a little twinge of fear in her voice.

John nodded to her and motioned for the door. They took off running towards the door just as three more explosions rocked the building. Snaps, and crashes reverberated throughout the structure of the building; finally a groan of metal could be heard. The building had finally given out and began to collapse in on itself.

"RUN!" shouted John.

They were almost to the door when the lights went out, and a familiar blackness took ahold of them both.


End file.
